Joel Kim Booster is a very talented actor, producer, writer, and comedian who has marked his name in the industry with some of the funniest televisions shows, including ‘Billy on the Street’ and ‘The Other Two’. Not to mention, his debut feature film ‘Fire Island’ was a big hit.
In a new interview with the Rolling Stone, Booster, who identifies as gay, opened up about his frustration in creating queer films. The 35-year-old South Korean-born American actor revealed that the level of explanation about queerness in LGBTQ+ movies can be frustrating for him.
“That’s definitely a frustration that I had going into writing Fire Island,” he admitted.
However, Booster also explained:
“People really underestimate how willing people are to go on a ride into a world with you that they’re unfamiliar with. It’s really doing disservice to straight people — and you know, I am not the person to say that normally.”
Moreover, he shared his sentiments on Pride, stating:
“It’s really easy to be cynical for people of my generation, who kind of grew up seeing it sort of in real time become corporatized and about selling products and, you know, just another extension of capitalism.”
“But I think Pride — and visibility — is really, deeply important for a lot of people right now, because they want us to be quiet. I mean, you’re seeing it in Florida right now. They want us to shut up and be quiet and fade into the background. And as long as that’s happening, Pride will be important,” Booster further expressed.
Source: rollingstone.com
I completely understand and agree with everything he is saying. I attended Pride because of everything going on, I wasn’t going to go, even though it literally is right down the street from my house and I have attended at least 25 Pride Parades and have had the pleasure of marching in them. I think we are still fighting for our rights, we keep thinking that we have met our goals, but then the forces against us find another way. And now they are just doubling down with misinformation. While we are seeing ourselves portrayed in many ways and celebrated and not just being the tragic character, people want to push us back to dark times. There was a point when all gay films made the gay character either dying or being the villain, rather than being the hero. Pride is still and will still be an important fight for our life.
Fire Island was one of the better gay movies I’ve seen this year.